Defenses
by blumoone
Summary: Extension from episode 6x03. While waiting for Eric to return to Fangtasia, Pam is torn between her loyalty to her Maker and her burgeoning feelings for her progeny while Tara just wants Pam to learn to stand up for herself but century long habits and strong defensive walls may be hard to break.


**A/N: Am I the only one who feels the pace on the show is a little off? I feel like we're missing out on vital Tamela scenes and/or conversations that could explain their changing behavior towards each other. This one-shot offers my idea of what Pam and Tara were discussing in the bar before Eric waltzed in with Willa. Hopefully it'll help explain how in Jessica's prayer scene at the end of 6x02 our favorite couple were damn near sitting two states apart, and in their scene together at the beginning of 6x03 they were nearly on top of each other. Anyways, hope you enjoy this little snippet and if you have time, please leave a review. They make my day!**

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Pam sat at the bar, nursing the last of the True Blood Ginger had surprisingly possessed enough intelligence to stash in a milk carton. Tara sat brooding beside her, a noticeable bit of distance separating them. Her world was spinning and Pam could very well consider the last 24 hours the longest she had experienced in her hundred plus years on earth. Indeed, the stress from escaping the authority headquarters, nearly being flambéed alive by Lilith incarnate, having all of her rights to life, liberty, and property stolen from her by a bigoted governor, and this impeding war was beginning to take its toll on the blond, that coupled with what was going on between herself and her progeny and Pam worried she might very well become a virtual basket case.

Said progeny had not spoken a word to her since she had left her in the shower and for some strange reason, Tara's silence was grating on Pam's nerves. Casting a glare in the baby vampire's direction, she slid the half filled carton towards her.

Tara quietly took what was offered, eyeing Pam through thick dark lashes before taking a tentative sip. "Thank you," she murmured, licking the metallic taste that was nothing like its human counterpart from her cocoa dusted lips. Pam grunted in response while simultaneously trampling down the relief that came over her before it could seep into the bond they shared.

"You know what pisses me off the most," Tara continued, her thick southern drawl rendered harsh with palpable bitterness, "I felt something when I saved your ass from that cell and you kissed the shit out of me. I felt it again when you played with my pussy on that beach. And it came back for a moment just now when you held my hand as Eric scraped that bullet from my gut," she turned angry black eyes on her Maker, eyes that held hurt, frustration, and confusion, "I mean I know you care about me, at least I think you do."

Pam turned away from her child then. The pain in Tara's voice and the imploring look she was giving her was almost too much to bear. She just didn't do well with _feelings_ and never had even when she'd been human. It had always been so much easier to hide behind her unbreakable façade and it had worked for her for quite some time and the only person thus far who had been able to breach her defenses had been her Maker. But Tara, Tara was trying to so hard to chip away at the walls that it had taken her over a century to build and the baby vampire was getting close, far closer than she cared to admit and a small part of her wanted to just let her in. But where did she start? And how? They were in the middle of a war and a fucking soap opera love story just wasn't _practical_. Not when any one of them could meet the True Death at any given moment and Tara was little more than a baby.

"Of course I care about you," Pam drawled, still not making eye contact, her voice holding its usual dryness, "Your safety is my priority Tara. Thus far you have proven to be impulsive, outright stupid at times, and a hazard to your own existence trying to protect those around you." She _was_ talking to the one who had taken a bullet to the head for Sookie fucking Stackhouse after all.

"But you'd have done the same for _Eric_, right? Even though he treats you like shit."

Pam growled, whipping around to fully face her Child who glowered right back, no traces of intimidation or signs of submission etched in her ebony face. "_Why _do you hate him so much? You don't _know_ him."

"Because he's an egotistical jerk who gets off on everyone bowing to him. He says 'jump' and you wouldn't even ask 'why?' you'd ask 'how high?' He says 'sit', you sit. He says 'stay', you stay. Bitch, don't let him tell your ass to play dead and you might actually _stake_ your goddamn self just tryin' to impress him." Tara shook her head with a roll of her eyes, "He _released_ you. You don't _have _to follow his rules anymore. He doesn't pull your strings anymore. It's _you_ that's letting him piss all over you now because you _want_ him too. Y'all been a team so goddamn long it and have fallen into such a pattern that even the thought of questioning his authority – which to you has been the word of God since y'all met - scares the shit outta you."

Pam was rendered effectively speechless by her progeny's tirade, torn between wanting to knock the baby vampire clear across the bar and to give in to the tears that were building up behind her eyelids. Just an hour before Nora had reassured her that Eric's affections, despite what his actions had shown, remained unchanged. He _did_ love her. _She_ was what he was most proud of. The words had brought a wave of warmth right where her heart used to beat because in that moment with her Maker's sister, half of her world had been returned to order even while chaos reigned. But then there was truth to what Tara was saying too. She was so used to putting up with Eric's hots and his colds that it had become a reflex to do his bidding. Even in the past when she had protested, a mere change in his expression or tone of his voice could send her vamp speeding off to Kingdom Come if that was what he had requested. Was that really what love and loyalty truly meant?

Tara could sense the warring emotions within her Maker through their bond and her expression softened. She pushed the milk carton back to Pam and slid her chair closer, crossing the fair bit of the distance between them and turned around so that her back rested against the bar. "I know it's hard. I ain't been around that long and a century _does_ sounds like a long damn time but he's not all you got in the world anymore," she reached out and placed a tentative hand on Pam's leather clad arm, "I'm here now."

Pam slowly turned to face her progeny. It was remarkable. Just a short while ago, she had tried to kill Tara, had begrudgingly made her vampire just to have Eric back, and now, well now they were in the middle of a civil war of sorts but Pam could feel her defenses starting to crumble. And though it scared her shitless, as her Child had so eloquently put it, she realized that it had been a long time coming.

The smell of ice and sea salt hit her nostrils just then. "Eric's coming," she murmured, gazing out across the empty bar, "And he's got someone with him." Tara nodded silently just as the door to Fangtasia burst open and the Viking vampire waltzed in, a nightdress clad human girl wearing a decidedly terrified look on her face beside him.

Pam exhaled harshly.


End file.
